When Art Imitates Life
by weesh
Summary: A young mom sees something familiar on a Disney tv show: Austin and One-shot


When Art Imitates Life -An Austin and Ally fic.

**Disclaimer: I don't own or make any money off of Austin and Ally, but I do wonder who is spying on me and feeding stuff to their writers.**

**A/N: I changed a few names. I combined the names of real people with the characters to get an in-between kind of thing to protect myself and the innocent. This may not be interesting to anyone but me, but I felt like writing it all down. Oh, and you should know, this is all true!**

Sally finished loading the dishwasher and turned it on. Her daughters, 5 and 2 years old were starting to make noise in the front room and she guessed they were between shows. A quick glance at the clock confirmed her suspicions. It was that point in the morning when Disney channel changed from the preschool shows they loved to the teen shows. She went into the front room to turn off the tv before the girls started complaining about 'the big shows' coming on that they didn't like yet.

She hadn't slept well and was tired so she sat down on the couch for a minute, the girls climbing onto her, each fighting for precious lap space on mom as was their routine. Just then the teen show started: it was the new one she had been avoiding. It looked too cliché anyway; a cute blond boy who sings and his friends, a girl he would probably have a tame 'disney' relationship with at some point: these things were so predictable.

For no good reason she could tell, she left it on though and watched for a minute. And then her little girls got excited and danced around the room during the opening song. They love music and she loves watching them dance and play. And again, she kept watching, deciding it was inevitable like with the rest of the shows she was too old to watch. She knew the general plot of all the teen shows just from them being on so much and guessing things from the commercials she saw.

Disney was a staple in the house since it was clean and safe compared to most other tv. Sally didn't watch much tv herself, not needing to watch dramas because she had seen it all in her extended family as she grew up: teen pregnancy, drug abuse, lying, fighting, stealing, family break-ups, jail etc. . . but this, this new show caught her attention. The girl was a song writer who wouldn't let anyone touch her book. Sally thought about the small notepad in her purse. It was one of countless others she had carried over the years, hating to be anywhere or do anything without some sort of paper and pen handy to write something down should she need to. No, she didn't write songs, but she understood the girl in the show. Sally was in book club, she loved pickles, had worked with her dad for 9 years, couldn't dance, was a little nerdy and uncool and her friends had always called her the sweet one because she couldn't lie or hold a 'poker face' and fool anyone.

Then there was the boy in the show: Austin. She couldn't help but watch now. He was cute and outgoing and fun and unafraid of attention. And he could sing. Sally thought back to high school: she had always crushed on cute guys, but if they could sing. . . she was a goner. When she had met her husband Dustin on a group date to a dance, he had been cute. It turned out they were both in choir at school and they got to know each other better and became friends while singing. He was loud and liked attention and waffles (instead of pancakes) and did really sweet things. Now they have been married for ten years and had their two beautiful daughters. Sally smiled. This show might not be so bad.

So, even though she was way too old for this kind of thing, she started watching the show. She watched reruns of the first episodes she had missed and then she kept up with the show into its second season and the similarities to her own life just kept coming: it was like her own real life romance had been tweaked a little and was a Disney channel show! There was her best friend, smart and loyal and unable to keep a job for more than a year! There was another friend, a boy she'd known since she was 12 who later married her college roommate who they still hung out with. If he wasn't at work he was always wearing pajama pants and superhero t-shirts and was saying odd and random things just to get a reaction or make people laugh. No, he didn't wear clown pants and suspenders, but his clothing choices were just as predictable and his behavior just the opposite.

Austin dated the wrong girls even though he liked the songwriter. Ally denied her own feelings for him so they wouldn't ruin their friendship. Sally smiled. When she went away to college after high school she had sent her future husband an email on a whim. They started writing emails all the time, several times a day sometimes, and they got to know each other really well and their friendship grew stronger and changed. She had finally admitted that she had liked him back in high school but had been too scared to tell him. He admitted he had liked her too but they both valued their friendship and didn't want to mess it up. (yeah, the conversation about not having a relationship just yet in Couples and Careers was pretty familiar to Sally.) They were different in a lot of ways, but they got along so perfectly in every other way and appreciate their differences and similarities.

The episode called Tunes and Trials hit a little too close to home too. Sally shook her head in awe thinking back to Dustin's old girlfriends. There had been a girl in high school who liked him but he never dated once who had become a bit of a stalker and made Sally really uncomfortable because of the way she threw herself at Dustin. There was Kira who was like the girl Dustin had dated for a while just after Sally went away to college but they had eventually broken up. And the international model? She was a bit like the girl Dustin met when he transferred to Sally's college and dated a bit but ended up as just good friends. The best part though, the show reflected her life again because Dustin had picked her, Sally, over everyone else. She had her version of Elliott too, in a guy she went to all the school dances with in high school but who never really was more than a friend because she met Dustin. (the dance when she met Dustin? Sally was on a date with 'Elliott' and an acquaintance was with Dustin!) And Dallas? He was the guy Sally dated in college for a minute while Dustin was having his fling with the 'international model'. Dustin teased her for watching the teen show but she reminded him of all the times he had said that their own love story would make a good chick flick.

So Sally smiled to herself. This was her show. This was her life on tv. No she wasn't famous and her husband had never been a pop star, but the characters were so much like them. Sally's 'Trish' still teased them about their worries and stress as 20 year olds, trying to figure out their relationship and changing from best friends to romantic things. They never formally dated because that would have freaked Sally out because she never knew how to act on dates, but they did hang out almost every day and spent all of their free time together on 'non-dates'.

And she smiled because she could picture the rest of the show following her life too. Sally's theory based on the show continuing to follow her love story? The simple version: Next Austin will go on a long tour, or several tours, and be busy. Ally will be busy with her own things too. They will be apart but will keep in touch. Separately they will both talk to Trish and drive her crazy as they each worry and stress about things changing and the other not loving them when this is all over. Trish will keep telling them each separately not to worry. When they talk to each other they won't mention their feelings or their relationship because they can't do anything about it right then and they are both scared, but totally in love with each other. (Sally knows because she and Dustin were in different states, several hundred miles apart, for two years.)

A year after Austin gets back from his tour they will be in their early twenties and finally get engaged. When Austin proposes it will be epic too: an all day thing involving their favorite movie, the top of a mountain, a fib about him working, a fake photo shoot for Ally, a carriage with white horses in a forested park, something she wrote, and a fancy dinner at the nicest restaurant in town. (That's right folks: Dustin is amazing and did all that for Sally. True story.) And they will know that it was all worth it because they had growing up to do before and now the time is finally right for them. Sally and Dustin had been friends for 7 years before they actually tied the knot, but looking back they know that every step, every lesson and heartbreak were part of making them stronger together in the end.

When Austin and Ally get married it's a perfect, quiet day with family and friends and it's all about them being together. Dez and Trish are there of course, and 6 months later Dez gets married too. Life won't be perfect, but it will be good. They will learn that marriage and careers and family take work, but they can do it together. They will have two beautiful little girls who will make them happy. And they will keep making great music because that is what Austin and Ally do.

Oh, and don't worry, Trish and Dez are there for all of it. Dez marries a girl who keeps him grounded a bit but still loves his quirks. (She was Sally's roommate in college and they are close friends.) She and Ally will put their oldest daughters in swim lessons together in the summertime. Trish finally gets her dream job after about 6 years of multiple jobs and some bouts of unemployment. And she is happy and hangs out with Ally at least twice a week and is a really cool 'aunt' to the kids.

Dustin may roll his eyes when he sees Sally watching the teen show, but she is happily reliving their past and remembering how she fell in love with him. She always did love a good love story, and none is better than her own. But it is kind of funny to find yourself watching it on Disney Channel one day!

**A/N: K, so I know this one was really self indulgent but I couldn't help myself. It really is weird and funny and cool watching something that feels so close to your life on a tv show! Anyway, my cute hubby does say we could make a good chick flick out of our story, but for now he will have to settle for this fanfic and the Austin and Ally show. Like every other writer here, I like reviews and comments, so let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!**

**-weesh**


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